Nerdy
I am a nerd. I am a big giant nerd covered in nerd sauce, with a light dusting of nerd flakes on top and a side of nerdy fries. Over time, this character trait has come to manifest itself in some very specific and seemingly unlikely ways, largely through a love of spaceships, aliens, time travel, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, and Neil Gaiman that manages to coexist with my simultaneous distaste for, say, math and physics. My parents undoubtedly knew about my affinities from a fairly early age, and were surely confirmed in their suspicions when my choice of leisure pursuit was playing with my AT-AT while wearing an oversized tshirt with a giant airbrushed snake on the front. Oh sure, I survived middle school and learned to pass as a normalish adult who speaks in reasonable, calm tones about Joss Whedon, but my nerd streak remains.
My feelings toward fictional depictions of nerds, therefore, are perhaps stronger than a critic should admit. I love the show Chuck, which I think depicts a nerd hero in a way that enables Chuck Bartowski to be both relatable and admirable. He hid his awesome secret plans on the back of his Tron poster. He is smart, friendly, and socially competent while also appreciating video games, computer systems, and the finer points of science fiction trivia. Chuck is impressive and lovable. He is also a giant nerd. So on the one hand, you’ve got a fictional nerd-hero like Chuck…
Penny struggles with The Mystic Warlords of Ka'a
…and on the other, you have the show The Big Bang Theory, and I am conflicted. Granted, they are different creatures – while Chuck is an hour-long spy-comedy-action-drama-romp, The Big Bang Theory follows a traditional sitcom formula, all the way down to a setting that centers on two adjacent apartments. In one apartment there’s Sheldon and Leonard, two nerds who hang out with their friends, spaz out over comic book canonicity questions, and stare intently at blackboards covered in math. In the other apartment, you’ll be shocked to find out, there is Penny, a normal, attractive actress/waitress who means well but gets frustrated by her neighbors and their extreme, crippling nerdiness. They interact. Their different views of the world collide; canned laughter ensues. There are lots of Star Wars jokes, and yes, I laugh. But my problem with The Big Bang Theory is that the line between laughing with and laughing at the nerd characters is a very slim one. Penny’s whole purpose in the show is to be the fictional representative of a “normal” person, and so when she snorts as Sheldon’s (possibly Asperger’s related) need to always sit on the same couch cushion, we are also snorting in amused judgment. It’s not an entirely unambiguous comedy, though – as the canned laughter cues, we are also laughing at Penny as she struggles to turn on her computer.
Faceoff
The reason I’m thinking in particular about The Big Bang Theory is that it had something of a casting coup last night. Sheldon and Raj enter an RPG tournament (“Mystic Warlords of Ka’a”) at their local comic book store. Raj wants the money, but Sheldon enters only after learning that his childhood nemesis, Wil Wheaton, will be there. If that name means nothing to you, then you are not the target audience for The Big Bang Theory, but in brief, Wil Wheaton played Ensign Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation and was one of the most mocked characters of scifi television. Last night’s episode culminates in Sheldon and Raj facing down Wil Wheaton in the tournament’s championship round, and when Wil manages to best Sheldon through some dirty, manipulative tactics, the episode ends with Sheldon’s Khan-esque cry of “WHEEEAAAATTOOOONNNN!!!”
So there’s the question. The audience for the show is so clearly meant to be people like me that it’s hard to imagine why the entire premise would be to mock its audience. On the other hand, when we laugh at Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj, are we participating in self deprecation? Self loathing? Is the fact that Sheldon is most likely somewhere on the autism spectrum a problem or an admirable fictional depiction of Aspergers? Are the jokes too easy? Probably. Do I laugh anyway? Yes. Fine, The Big Bang Theory. You win.
This clip represents the show at its funniest, I think. The setup: it’s Christmas, and Sheldon understands that he has to give Penny a gift of commensurate value to whatever she gives him, but he can’t predict what her gift to him will be worth. His solution is to buy many gift baskets in a range of costs so that he can open her gift, excuse himself, and return with a gift of the appropriate value.
Who’s Joss Whedon?
Wow. As a software engineer, Mensa member, and Star Trek fan, I rank pretty high on the geek scale, and we have very different feelings about this show. The show has much more depth than portrayed here, and given the anger in the piece and the factual mistakes, I’m left to wonder if you’ve watched more than a couple of the episodes or if there is some other problem.
Some minor corrections:
You mention “canned laughter” several times, but this show is taped in front of a studio audience every Tuesday, and that audience is heavily populated by geeks, grad students, and professors, and is an extremely popular taping. I don’t know if this has become a standard at every taping, but at some of the recent tapings audience members are allowed to share how much the show and the characters mean to them.
There was never an episode where Penny was shown to have difficulty turning on her computer, in fact, she is shown to be quite computer literate throughout the entire series, even developing an addiction to online gaming.
The writers explained early on to Jim Parsons that Sheldon does *not* have Aspergers.
Although Penny didn’t understand Sheldon’s feelings towards his cushion when they first met, things have advanced rapidly, and now Penny even explains to newcomers why it is important that they do not sit in his spot. This is just a very, very small example of Penny and the guys all learning and growing, just as any group of friends learn and grow. The show isn’t so much about “the geeks and the girl” as it is about a group of friends who form a family and support each other.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment -
I should probably say up front that although it obviously wasn’t clear, I *like* The Big Bang Theory, even though I occasionally find it frustrating. Whatever problem I have with the hackneyed sitcom setup and the predictable characters, I cannot deny that I also find it funny and often well-written. You’re right on several fronts – what I call “canned” laughter is probably real audience response, but although there are certainly real people laughing, the final televised episode is sound edited. The length, timing, and volume of laughter is a decision on the show just like anything else. (What I’m saying is, the laughter is loud and constant. Can you imagine what the show would sound like with without it? Actually, you don’t have to.)
About the Aspergers, yes, Bill Prady has commented that he doesn’t want to pigeonhole Sheldon that way. Despite his comments, though, there’s persistent audience response that joyfully reads Sheldon as a positive depiction of Aspergers, and I kind of love that about him.
As for Penny, the line about the computer was a joke. But I was particularly annoyed by the recent episode depicting her total inability to follow Sheldon’s (admittedly comprehensive) history of science. She does have an Eliza Doolittle moment at the end where she parrots back a line about Leonard’s research, but the whole plot line relies on the difficulty and near-absurdity of teaching her. The show has improved immeasurably from where it started in the pilot, and it’s moved away from a lot of the stupider jokes that rely on gender and geek stereotypes. (Linda Holmes has a great blog post on that topic). A few still get in, though, and it continues to be a fly in the ointment for me.
I have read the above comments, first of all I’m not a “geek” or a “scientist” I”m a regular person sort of a 9 to 5er. Stop looking beyond the laughter canned or real. This show has tapped into what alot of sitcoms have never been able to do. It’s takenus into the world of scientists and made that funny. It’s allowed us to look at geeks without seeing nerds. Is the Penny charcter even necessary? sometimes I wonder. She’s here now so we put up with her. Are the credits at the beginning in the right name order? I think not. Jim Parsons is carrying this sitcom now and at the beginning. Johnny may have more credits to his name, but he is not the star. Hats off to the Stride gum guy, who when I look back at those commericials on youtube you can see the Sheldon just waiting to emerge.
Wow. I just…. *sigh*.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joss_Whedon